1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to a deck mechanism of a video cassette tape recorder, and more particularly to a brake device of the deck mechanism of the video cassette tape recorder for stopping a tape supply reel and a tape take-up reel of the deck mechanism.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As well known to those skilled in the art, a video cassette tape recorder (hereinbelow, referred to simply as "the VCR") is operated in various of operational modes, that is, FF, REW, PLAY, REV and PAUSE modes. When an operational mode of the VCR is changed into another operational mode, various functional elements of the deck mechanism of the VCR should move to their predetermined positions where they perform their intrinsic functions in the selected operational mode.
With reference to FIG. 1, there is shown in a schematic plan view a brake device of a deck mechanism of the VCR in accordance with the prior art. In this drawing, the reference numerals 1 and 2 denote a tape supply reel and a tape take-up reel of the deck mechanism which are placed on a reel table or on a reel stand of the deck mechanism. A pair of reels of a tape cassette loaded on the deck mechanism engage with the supply reel 1 and the take-up reel 2, respectively. At a side of the supply reel 1, a supply reel soft brake 3 is pivoted on a supply reel brake shaft 5. This supply reel soft brake 3 is biased toward the supply reel 1 by a supply reel soft brake spring 6 such that it comes into close contact with the supply reel 1. A supply reel main brake 4 is mounted on a supply reel main brake shaft 7. In the same manner, at a side of the take-up reel 2, a take-up reel soft brake 13 i s pi voted on a take-up reel brake shaft 12. This take-up reel soft brake 13 is biased toward the take-up reel 2 by a take-up reel soft brake spring 11 such that it comes into contact with the take-up reel 2. A take-up reel main brake 10 i s mounted on a take-up reel main brake shaft 9. The supply reel main brake 4 and the take-up reel main brake 10 have their brake shoes which are mounted on ends of the brakes 4 and 10 adjacent to the supply reel 1 and the take-up reel 2, respectively.
The supply reel main brake 4 and the take-up reel main brake 10 are connected to each other by a main brake spring 8 which is a kind of tension coil spring and connected to a pair of brake pins 20 at its opposed ends. Such a connection between the supply reel main brake 4 and the take-up reel main brake 10 is achieved at the other ends of the brakes 4 and 10 which are spaced apart from the reels 1 and 2, respectively. Due for the spring force of the spring 8, the main brakes and 10 are biased in opposite directions.
In addition, a function plate 14 is provided for the deck mechanism at a position above the supply reel 1 and the take-up reel 2 such that it linearly reciprocates. The supply reel soft brake 5 and the take-up reek soft brake 13 are provided at, their ends with individual brake pins. In order to contact and cooperate with these brake pins of the soft brakes 5 and 13, the function plate 14 has a protrusion and a pair of recesses, the recesses being formed at opposite sides of the protrusion. Since the supply reel main brake 4 and the take-up reel main brake 10 are connected to each other by the main brake spring 8, these main brakes 4 and 10 come into close contact with the supply reel 1 and the take-up reel 2 at the ends thereof, respectively. The above brake device further includes a FF mode plate 15 cooperating with both the supply reel main brake 4 and the take-up reel main brake 10.
The supply reel main brake 4 and the take-up reel main brake 10 are used for stopping the reels 1 and 2 when either of PLAY, FF and REW (Rewind) modes is finished. The supply reel soft brake 3 is used for a loading operation of the deck mechanism and the take-up reel soft, brake 13 is used in the REV mode.
In the above brake device, when the function plate 14 and the FF mode plate 15 linearly reciprocate by forces F1 and F2 in accordance with a selected operational mode, respectively, the soft brakes 3 and 13 and the main brakes 4 and 10 are rotated about their rotating shafts by the function plate 14 and the FF mode plate 15, respectively. At this time, the braking forces applied to both the supply reel 1 and the take-up reel 2 are influenced by the spring forces of the springs.
However, the prior art brake device has a problem in that it requires large number of elements since two soft brakes 3 and 13 and two main brakes 4 and 10 are separately placed on the deck mechanism as described above. The requirement of the large number of elements causes the fabrication of the brake device to be complex and difficult. Furthermore, the preparation process of the brake device is inevitably increased in the number of its steps for assembling the elements, so that the cost of the device is inevitably increased.